Electrical devices employ an electrical signal having one or more pulses for operations. In one example, an electrical signal swings or transitions between a first state (e.g., ground voltage or 0V) and a second state (e.g., supply voltage or VDD). According to states of the electrical pulses, electrical devices perform various operations. For example, a sampling circuit enables sampling while the electrical signal is in the second state, or when the electrical signal transitions from one of the first state and the second state to the other of the first state and the second state.
In one application, increased amplitude of a pulse enables an improved performance of an electrical device. For example, increasing amplitude of a clock signal applied to a sampling circuit enhances linearity or efficiency of sampling performed. For another example, increasing amplitude of a carrier signal applied to a modulator (e.g., up-converter or down-converter) improves linearity or efficiency of modulation performed. However, an amount of increase in amplitude of a pulse is determined or bounded by characteristics of components (e.g., transistors) generating the pulse to prevent damages to the components. For example, applying a voltage exceeding an overstress voltage (e.g., between a gate electrode and a drain electrode of a transistor or between the gate electrode and a source electrode of the transistor) to generate a pulse having increased amplitude causes damages to the transistor, thereby rendering the electrical device to be inoperable.
The details of various embodiments of the methods and systems are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below.